Looking at the trust shift in online travel

Forget about big companies, banks and institutions, who and how we trust has changed, particularly in online travel.

Developments in the online travel industry, and in digital in general, have paved the way for businesses such as Uber and Airbnb.

It's also borne out on a daily basis with airlines, hotel groups and other companies called out publicly for bad service via consumer reviews and social media.

Rachel Botsman is an expert in trust and studies how it changes the way we live, work and behave with the aid of digital technologies.

In the clip below, she uses Blablacar and Airbnb as examples of changes in who and how we trust.

"BlaBlaCar transports more than four million people every single month. To put that in context, that's more passengers than the Eurostar or JetBlue airlines carry. BlaBlaCar is a beautiful illustration of how technology is enabling millions of people across the world to take a trust leap."

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She describes that "trust leap" as something that happens when people to try something new or change how they've always done something.

Botsman goes on to explain how Blockchain will further impact trust as people put faith in the platform rather than an intermediary.

She concludes that the disruption we're seeing isn't about technology, it's about this "trust shift" which will lead, hopefully, to more transparency and accountability.

It's well worth viewing over lunch or during a commute or, read the transcript here.